The Initiative
by InBetweentheKeys
Summary: You know... there is probably nothing in the world—no, the universe as tempting as a locked door. Perhaps, if it had not been for that one locked door, I would not be here. Steve/OC/Loki, slight Tony/OC
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:** I, my lovelies, do not own the Avengers or anything of the sort. Sorry to disappoint, truly.

This is an ancient story, truly ancient. I've been meaning to post it for ages now, I just keep forgetting. Sue me.

Anywho, hope you all enjoy it! ;)

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**PROLOGUE**

You know... there is probably nothing in the world—no, the _universe_ as tempting as a locked door. Perhaps, if it had not been for that one locked door, I would not be here. I would not be sitting in the interrogation room waiting to be questioned by the Council, the stupid, stupid Council.

Either way, though, there I was. Sitting in front of this large table that was cluttered with various files and photos of the "response team" that Fury had assembled. My fingers slid over them, and I was unable to help my nosiness. I couldn't help but to thumb a few of the edges up just high enough for me to see the records of most. Suddenly, the screen before me switched on and the Council members were all staring down at me. Glaring, I suppose is the better word for it.

"Agent Banner?"

A moment passed before it registered in my mind that I'd been called. It'd been a long week, a longer month, and I just wanted to go home and sleep. Maybe scream for a while about how idiotic their decision had been in the end. How idiotic and selfis—no. I couldn't think that. Never. I would just have to trust her for this. Finally clearing in my mind just how important this was, my eyes slowly fixated on the large, shadowed faces. They peered at me, as if into my very soul. "Agent Banner," the woman spoke firmly, apparently having noted my delay.

"Yes?" came my dull reply. I was not overly fond of interrogation, never had been. Or the Council, for that matter. Claiming that every move they made was for "the bettering of humanity, the safe-keeping of our home and species." I'd been overthinking everything lately. _Everything._ Eventually, even though it was only a few seconds, the woman decided to start our little get-together. "You were under Director Fury's procedures, were you not? You were aware of his calling the Initiative?" Turning my eyes toward the desk, I answered- hesitantly, might I add, "Yes, I was aware." Oh, if only they knew. If they really, really knew…

"What is become of this, so called, 'response team'?"

Letting out a soft exhale, I lied straight through my teeth, "I do not know." "Then, you are no longer tracking them?" a quick reply from the man on the right. "We are under orders to leave them be, so no. Besides, they just saved the earth; I think they deserve a vacation. Don't you agree?" They were obviously getting frustrated. I kept a slight chuckle under my breath. This was excellent. "Under whose orders? Fury's?" the other sneered. "I am not obliged to answer that question." All of them seemed so offended when I shot the same attitude back in his direction.

Silence.

While they chattered amongst each other, I began to look over the files once more. _Romanoff, Barton, Stark..._ My gaze caught sight of one in particular. The file was old. The photo was _really_ old.

"What went wrong?"

My head snapped back up at that, "What?" The man repeated himself. "What went wrong? Tell us everything." I thought about it for a moment, "I do not feel obliged to tell you." "Are you afraid for these... these _creatures_?" The woman, again, disgust evident in her voice.

"They are as human as we, Councilwoman. If you would have bothered to do your homework, you might have known that. "They all had that snobbish air about them now. Well, more than usual, anyway. Silence, once more. So, again I peeked through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files on the Avengers Initiative. Even I was in the files. I sighed to myself and leaned back in my chair, just waiting.

After they were done glowering away at my very existence, the man in the middle gave a command- the same as earlier. "Tell us everything," he said. "Start from the beginning." I told him no.

"That is a direct order, Banner."

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**[A/N]:** Well, now! I know this is short, but I shall have the actual first chapter up in a few minutes, so keep calm! So hold on a little longer and we'll watch as the real story unfolds.

I appreciate any feedback anyone might care to give! Read and review, and see you soon!

~Keys


	2. Chapter 1

That day had started the same way as they usually did. Wake up, head out for a run, answer a call from Coulson while he was fangirling about his idol, Captain America. At least, it was normal until I got a house call from S.H.I.E.L.D. in the middle of my conversation. Upon opening the door, my boss let himself inside the apartment. "Director, Sir," I was shocked to see him. He gave me a look, and I spoke into the phone. "Hey, Phil? I'm going to have to put you on hold..."

Setting the phone on a nearby counter and leaning back on it, I looked back to my boss. "Can I help you?" I asked. He shut the door behind him now, and locked it. This was something serious. I watched him check my apartment carefully for bugs and open blinds. Once, that was settled, he made himself very comfortable on my little sofa. He sat, elbows on his knees and hands folded together before finally looking up at me to tell me what he wanted. Of course, my boss had always had a bad habit of that. "Agent Banner, we need you to come in," he told me, totally straight-faced. My eyebrow arched. _Come in?_

"What if I don't want to?" I asked incredulously. That was rather stupid of me, too. I'd never been asked to come in before. Especially not during my break season. I knew it was a stupid thing to say as soon as the words left my mouth. His expression never changed as he replied, "I would _persuade_ you."

I didn't particularly like how that sounded. Not a bit. So, I picked my phone back up from the counter and made sure my conversation partner was still on the other line, "Phil? I'll talk to you soon." Click. Then, I nodded back to Fury. "Alright, sir. Where do you need me?"

_~Le Time Skip~_

Fury had sent me up to the roof after giving me the information I needed and letting me pack a few things. He had already sent the Quinjet after me. Not only was it waiting, but so was Agent Coulson, grinning like a total moron. He knew… He knew I was going to be coming in today, that little sneak! Oh well, I thought as I waved to him and laughed, "Told you I'd talk to you soon!"

After a few short words with each other, his apparent glee overwhelmed him and he blurted, "Guess who we get to meet!" By his tone, I knew exactly who it was. I didn't answer to that exclamation, but rather asked, "When?" I returned his smile. "In a few minutes." No wonder he was excited. Of course, I would have been, too. Not every day that you get to meet the central figure of your childhood.

Then, when something clicked in his brain and he remembered something else that seemed important, he exclaimed, "Oh! I almost forgot!" He began to look through his bag, and I was certain he was about to whip out his Captain America trading cards. He had all of them, vintage collection. He was quite proud of the fact, too. But instead, he handed me a tablet and swiped a few places to bring up footage and files. Ah, yes. Here we go, typical. "Here; the Director thought you might like to know more about why we've called you in, 'Abyss'."

Upon hearing my alias used, my eyes snapped open and I knew it had something to do with my... erm, my incident. You see, about eight years prior, I stumbled upon a rather attractive looking locked door.

_***Flashback***_

_ The winter months that year had been much warmer than usual; especially for my little apartment in the city. I'd just started working with S.H.I.E.L.D., the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, after coming across a radiation chamber and starting it up- something that was, to me, totally obvious. The agency liked that, and allowed me a job with them. As of that time, I was only of Level 4 security clearance._

_ While walking down the hall, headed for my next job, I noticed a door. I had seen it several times, and this very door irritated me greatly. Being Level 4, there were not many doors on my floor that I could not get into. This, in fact, was the ONLY door that I could not open. So, as I was about to walk on by, a couple of agents, whom I recognized as Agents Hill and Coulson, scanning to go inside. There was a soft glowing from inside, so my curiosity bit into my brain. I slipped in behind them._

_ A blue cube, one I had heard called the Tesseract, was acting up. The room cleared for a few minutes... I had to go check it out- I may never get the opportunity to do this again! I peered into the Tesseract, as it was held up in the prongs. With a gentle hand I reached out, about to touch it... but I paused. The air around me had gotten colder, much colder. In fact, I was shivering now; that was rare. Finally, I pushed myself at it and I barely felt the pressure on one outstretched finger…_

_ A loud crackling filled the room and I saw electric blue before my vision failed._

_***End Flashback***_

The footage of the Tesseract and the Avengers Initiative came to an end and I looked up at my colleague. I wasn't exactly paying attention, but I got the high points. "So? The Tesseract has been stolen and you want me for... what, exactly?" Coulson took on a totally serious demeanor. "We need you to help in any way that you can. You were the closest to it when it first began to act like this- anything you could find out would be helpful. Especially if it comes down to a fight. We've asked your brother to come in, also."

My _brother_? They wanted the two of us to work on something _together_? As in the same room? Ha! "Oh, really? And you plan on bringing Bruce to HQ?" I asked quizzically, knowing full well that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters was a huge airship known as the helecarrier. And also considering that my brother was one of the gold medalists in Olympic temper tantrums, I found it rather amusing that they wanted my brother onboard.

"Yes, we plan to bring him aboard the helecarrier. Don't worry; we have a... erm... Plan B," he assured me. Sighing worriedly, I looked back down at my screen, skimming over more of the information. You know, the stuff I totally missed while spacing out earlier. "Hold on, Kyndall; we're getting ready to pick up our hero." That comment made a slmall laugh rise up in my throat. Although, not nearly so much as his next request did.

"Do.. Do you think you could go in and get him?" he sputtered, and I just had to laugh. "Nervous, much?" A quick nod from him sent me down off the grounded aircraft. Hopefully, I'd know him by his appearance; according to the footage, he would tower over just about everyone. And he was very attractive, for someone his age... Considering the ice, though... No. I was not having those thoughts; I didn't even know the guy!

"Alright, Phil. Where will I find him?" I asked, Just as he was about to answer, the engines stalled a bit. "That door and down the stairs. He should be waiting on that next floor."

Taking those directions in, I followed the stairwell to the next floor. Sure enough, there he was. Being a simple 5'2", he was over a foot taller than myself. I approached the looming blond, who was leaning against the wall with a brown leather jacket and a bag at his feet, and spoke. "Captain Rogers?" I had to raise my voice over the small talk of the people who actually worked there.

Acknowledging (and looking down at) me, he smiled warmly, "Yes, ma'am. Are you with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" I offered a slight nod as he took my hand and shook it. "I am. Agent Banner; pleasure to meet you, Captain." "The pleasure is mine, Miss Banner... but please, call me Steve."


	3. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED.

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Sending Coulson after the captain was _not_ the best idea. Hearing that some strange guy watched you sleep was... well, not cool.

"Er, I was present... while you were unconcious... from the ice." Nice save, Phil. That could have been a lot creepier. I could only laugh from my place at the controls- the pilot had called me up to take over for him some time ago. Even though I was not a part of the conversation, I still could hear most of it. Poor Coulson, he was just so clueless. There was a bout of static on the radio and the helecarrier came into sight. "Banner to S.H.I.E.L.D.; requesting permission to land," I spoke into the headset receiver, waiting for the word. Soon enough, I was directed to land on Pad 3.

As soon as the quinjet hit the pad, I flipped a few switches and knobs until the engines were all shut down. I followed the others off of the plane and onto the deck. quickly catching up. For now, the helecarrier looked like a carrier ship; most likely to not draw attention before we went up into the sky. I chuckled to myself and looked up to the tall blond now next to me. "So, Cap? What do you think?" He smiled back down at me, looking relieved. "Actually, this is fairly familiar to me," he sighed, still grinning faintly. Poor guy, I thought. He really had no idea what was coming.

It was around that time when Natasha Romanoff arrived, and behind her stalked a certain man that I would know anywhere: Bruce Banner- my much, _much, _older brother. I could only stare as the Russian woman introduced herself and Bruce, allowing him and Steve to talk. An uncomfortable silence stuck between myself and the other redhead, and it didn't appear that it was going to leave. It wasn't that I didn't like Natasha, it was just... We had a silent agreement to not be around each other if at all possible. Finally saving me from this, the underwater turbines began to whir, starting up with a groan, water spinning in a vortex around each. It was around that time that Agent Romanoff piped up again. "You two may want to step inside. It's about to get a little hard to breathe," her words were simple, really.

"Is this a submarine?" the blond asked, my brother following him toward the edge. Bruce just laughed mockingly, "They want _me_ in a submerged, pressurized metal container?" I just shorted and strode back inside to the deck. That's when we started into the clouds, and he laughed again. Even though I was inside, I could still hear my brother there. He had a nervous edge to his voice at this time, though, "No, no. This is **_much_** worse."

Once he had come inside, I tapped Captain Rogers on his arm to get his attention. I smiled up at him, "So, _Steve_... You impressed yet?" While gawking at the ascending helecarrier, he gave a slight nod. He had headed inside with the rest of our crowd and began to fish around in his pocket-when I found him-before finding his wallet and slipping the director a ten dollar bill. I guessed there was some sort of bet between them, but I didn't ask. I began to walk around the deck, glancing at people's screens occasionally.

"Yo! Kyn! Long time, no see, kid!" a familiar voice called. I turned to face the dark haired woman and grinned, "Becca! What's been happenin'?" She grabbed me into a hug, which completely crushed my ribs and a lung, and finally let me get a good look at her when she released me. Even she had one of the catsuits- a thing I refused to wear, no matter how many times I had been ordered to. I kept it simple: jeans, black tank top, and a pair of red Chucks.

Agent Coulson and the Captain-who apparently followed me after a while- were close behind me in greeting the new agent- a long-time friend of mine. "Steve, Phil; this is Agent Rebecca Sarandon- a good friend." Steve looked at her for a moment, as if contemplating. Then, he made the mistake of voicing his thoughts. The _big_ mistake. "Would that be sort of like Becky?" As soon as it came out of his mouth, my dear Becca had him flat on his back, a punch to his nose and stomach being the cause. "Do. **NOT**. Call me Becky."

For a few seconds, I (and Agent Couldon, too, of course) could only do our impressions of goldfish. Could only watch as she stormed off, clearly proud of her work. Another moment found me helping the stunned soldier back to his feet. "You alright, Cap? She's got a harsh swing, I know." I kept my hand braced on his upper arm. He was fine, of course, but it was more of a reflex than a need. Once he was up, I noticed a gash on his cheek- no doubt my friend had been wearing her ring. You see, last time Iron Man had a major fight over New York, a few crushed pieces of his suit fell to the ground. Becca had been out there and found a little bit that had the red and gold on it and made it into a ring. Returning my mind to reality, I cringed a little at seeing the laceration and I told him to lean down. I touched my fingers to the area gently, blood sticking to them as I pulled them back. "Hmmm.. She got you good, huh? Let's go." I gripped his hand in my other one and pulled him gently in the direction of the barracks.

"Where?" he finally managed to ask, still in shock by being randomly punched. Twice. "Just follow me, yeah? I'm going to show you where your room is." Well, I wasn't lying. After a few minutes, we eventually wound back around to his room. Even had his name on it. I dragged the super-soldier into the bathroom, wetting a washcloth and beginning to clean his cut. He was being awfully quiet, but I wasn't sure whether it was normal for him or not. "Hey, you sure you're alright?" I asked once again. When I had finished, the much taller man-who I had to pull down to my eye-level- rubbed the scratch but smiled. "I'm fine; I've been beat up much worse than this, ma'am."

"Just call me Kyn; most people do," I grinned back up at him. I probably hated being called that as much as my friend did Becky, but for his sake I would keep my temper under control. "But what do you mean? Who on earth could beat _you_ up?" Steve's hand went to the back of his neck as we walked out of there and upstairs into the regular sitting area. "Well, before I got injected, it wasn't the hardest thing in the world to do..." This guy? I had heard that he was suped up, but I couldn't picture him being _that_ little. Right?

Apparently, I was giving him a strange look because he laughed, "You don't believe me?" He was probably used to that. I blinked a few times before replying, "It's not really something I can picture." He held his hand up level with me. "Before I became Captain America, I was a ninety-pound asthmatic about this tall. Anybody could beat me up, they knew it. They usually did, too," Steve explained slowly, giving an embarrassed chuckle at the last part. But that part intrigued me... "Why didn't you just run, then?" He never answered, just smiled a sad little smile.

"All agents to the flight deck. I repeat, all agents to the flight deck," I could hear Agent Hill calling everyone through our earpieces. I sighed, "C'mon, Cap. We have things to do."

_~Le 'Nother Time Skip~_

We had been sitting in meetings quite a while-four hours, to be exact- Becca, Maria, and myself all sitting together. The members of the Initiative, which I was supposed to be getting cleared for, were all at a separate table. Suddenly, I heard, "Agent Banner!"

After jumping about two or three feet in the air, landing on my feet, and saluting, I answered with a squeaky, "Yes, sir?" "You have been assigned to Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers until further notice. You are to stay with them at all times, unless ordered by myself to do otherwise," Director Fury barked at me. He then sent a wary, one-eyed glance at the latter mentioned, then back to me. "And maybe... teach **_him_** how to use a microwave." With that comment, the Captain blushed darkly, his face burning scarlet- all the way up to his ears. _So that's why the downstairs break room was smoking and off limits..._

Chuckling, I responded with another amused, "Yes, sir," and the meeting was dismissed. I walked toward my assigned Avengers, a slight grin across my lips. "So, looks like we get to be buddies from now on, huh?" Steve returned my smile. Bruce just gave me a sort of sad look while I talked to Cap. I held a hand out to my brother, noticing his sulky attitude. "Bruce," I nearly growled, though I tried to be polite.

"Hello, Kyndall," he muttered, making the awkward between us even more noticeable than neon lights in a fog... at night. Before I could tell him exactly what I was thinking- which was NOT very nice-, I heard Cap ask a question. "Is that a girl's name now?!" I was laughing about it; it was to be expected, considering that he was from the 1940s. Unfortunately for him, about that time, Becca had decided to check back in with us. Of course, she managed to get us just at the worst time. "Is that all you think about?! People's names?!" and with that, she hit him over the back of his head. With the butt of her pistol...

"Becca!" I yelped, gawking at the other woman. "What was that one for?" Steve groaned, rubbing his head where he had been struck. "For being a moron?" Becca shrugged. Exhaling softly, I made sure that the poor man was alright. Sure, he was a super-soldier, but my dear friend was strong. And basically used a pistol whip. "I'm fine, really," he tried to reassure me, standing straight once again. "Alright..." i could only sigh and shake my head, hand bracing against his arm. "Let me see," I sighed, waiting for him to lean down. He wasn't bleeding, so that was good. "Alright, you aren't bleeding or anything..." But there was a bruise forming on the back of his head.

Once more, after everyone had returned to standing, I turned to look at Becca, "So, besides assaulting the Captain, here, what are you doing here?" Just as she was about to reply, one of the flight crew called over all of us to Fury. They had found the one who had stolen the Tesseract. A few unheard- to me, at least- words passed before we were given the address. Nick Fury turned to Steve, a commanding look in his eye. "Captain, you're up."

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**[A/N]:** Sorry for the late update! I'm sort of in between school and a blizzard, so I didn't even think about it! Hopefully won't happen again.

Anybody like it so far? I know it's kind of boring right now, considering I've gone totally by the movie here... I promise it branches off in a few chapters! Anywho, seeya next week! Reviews are very welcome! ;)

~Keys


	4. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:**I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS.

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There I was, circling over Germany, waiting for Cap and Becca to be done. I was just waiting for them in the Quinjet, rubbing my feet-stupid heels, stupid party...- and listening to them banter back and forth. The man that had stolen the Tesseract, Loki, was throwing poor Steve all over the place. He was all dressed up with his play-pretend cape and cow horns, standing over the lot of people gathered there. One even stood up to defy the tyrant, at least, he did until Cap went in to defend them all.

After a good beating toward the super soldier, a red flash blasted the thief, successfully knocking him back and Cap went to stand beside the figure I now recognized as Iron Man. I looked around for Becca, although to no avail. Probably somewhere drooling over the man in the suit. Iron Man was to Becca what Captain America was to Agent Coulson... Although, she- hopefully- would be more... not-creeperish about her crush... infatuation... obsession... Whatever it was called these days...

Soon, the two men had Loki restrained and sitting at the back of the small, now-crowded quinjet (which was being piloted by Natasha) and he was dead silent. The hushed atmosphere was a little more than uncomfortable. I felt as if I could literally reach out and mold the awkward like play-doh. Until, suddenly, a clap of thunder rang out, and we were in the middle of a lightning storm. Loki's eyes darted around nervously, skin paling- if that was even possible.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve mocked. Bad choice. I just continued to watch Becca fawn over Stark- which he liked a little to much- and the others. "I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki told him, breaking his silence. My breath hitched in my throat. _What follows? _

The quinjet trembled, tilting from side to side a few times. A few of us too "brave" to wear our seatbelts got tossed around and I found myself against the back hatch. "The fridgetoast?! What was that?" I snapped before hearing a roar of a voice, "You're coming with me!" A bright flash of light flooded into our aircraft and just like that, Loki was gone.

A few words were sent back and forth before the hatch opened, Stark about to go after them. I just stood there, holding on to one of the nearby pipes while my long hair whipped around my face. Finally, Steve yelled after him, "We need a plan of attack!" To which Tony responded with, "I have a plan: attack." Sighing, I watched Steve grabbed a nearby parachute. "I'd sit this one out, Cap." But would he listen to me? No, of course not. "I don't see how I can," he replied, still pulling the straps into position. I frowned, but didn't try to dissuade him. This was why he was there in the first place.

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods," Romanoff tried to appeal to him. No avail. His next response made me smile slightly in amusement. "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that!" He managed to secure the final strap and on that note, he dropped out after the others. Although I laughed, I was worried. I really liked Steve; I didn't want him to overdo it. But what did I know- I wasn't as devoted to being the big hero. Becca and I watched a while, even listened to some of the banter through Tony and Steve's earpieces. "Hey! That's enough!" he yelled after throwing his shield-and himself- into the fight. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here," Steve had started to speak. The god of thunder spoke up, foreign accent dripping from his words, "I've come to put an end to Loki's schemes!" I snickered over at my friend, both of us giving a running commentary of our own. "You can smell the testosterone up here," I whisper-shouted.

"Then prove it! Put the hammer down!" the Captain America voice was impressive, but I do believe Thor's topped it. Sorry, Steve. We could hear Tony trying to say something before he was cut off by a strike from the legendary Mjolnir. "Uh, yeah, bad call. He really loves hi-" Whhooosh! And he was gone.

"You want me to put the hammer down?!" Oh, no... I knew exactly where he was going to put it, too.

"Girls, girls! You're all pretty; can we get back to the real problem now?!" I yelled from the open hatch, Becca and Tony- apparently- being the only ones who had heard me. We all paused a moment to laugh before what I had feared came true. Thor threw himself up into the air, ready to swipe the hammer at Steve, who countered by ducking behind his shield. I don't think I've ever seen such an explosion in my life. Becca appeared from the very middle of the confusion, a restrained Loki being held by his hair and the barrel of Becca's favorite pistol basically glued to his temple. "Ladies," she began, making a reference to my previous statement. "Are we done here?" How did she get out there so fast? We had only just landed the quinjet! I was still having the conversation in my mind before running to join them. By then, though, I just gave up on figuring it out.

"I think we are, Becca," I chuckled, finally standing with the rest of them in the now-leveled forest. The brunette woman harumphed and spun on her five-inch stilleto heels, letting her gun back to its holster and dragging Loki along behind her. As if the fact that her heels kept sinking into the soft ground- making her lean back a bit after every step- wasn't funny enough, her shifting made Loki nearly fall on his face every time she tilted. Even Thor was beginning to giggle at the scene. Only a couple more steps were taken before she leaned down to take off her shoes (which she had worn to blend in while in Germany) and threw them at Steve, poor guy, hitting him in the chest with both. "Hold those!" she barked her command, to which he replied with a yelp. "Yes, ma'am!"

Becca, after ordering people around, had me, Thor, and Stark all sitting beside each other and herself with Loki and Steve on either side of her, sitting across from us. Poor Steve was to hold her shoes and purse all the way back to the helecarrier. "At least you match," I'd tried to tell him, but he wasn't going to hear it. Cap had been having a rough night; I couldn't blame him for being a little down. For the entire ride, there was a very awkward silence. Until... "Kyn? Why does Agent Coulson call you 'Abyss' sometimes?" It was the Captain, himself, who had asked. Becca tensed a little, already fully aware of the circumstances. I let out a a deep breath (now that the man in the iron suit was asking, too; although he asked like it was some sort of innuendo) before I decided to explain... Or maybe I could get away with not telling them anything...

"How about this; we all go to HQ, report to Fury, and get some sleep? I'm sure we could all use some," I proposed. "How about you tell us what we want to know?" I flinched at his tone. Steve was a little moody, I noticed, but he caught himself after my reaction. "Sorry, you don't have to..." Just as I was about to tell him that it was fine, Stark piped up and ruined it. "Oh, c'mon, Capsicle! Give the girl a break. She's probably a little tired of helping an old man across the street..." he sent a wink over my way, which I found totally disgusting. "And everywhere else."

Becca, of course, though that was great, and it was because of that fit of giggles that Stark winked over at her, too. Womanizer, I growled mentally. If he got much worse, I would probably have beaten him. Unfortunately for myself, the brunette woman I knew so very well was just as bad. She decided that her seat just wasn't good enough, and moved to sit in between me and him, which was pretty much on his lap. It was because of her his arm slinking around my dear Becca that the growl rose into an actual sound and I grabbed his iron helmet to shove it back on his face. "Silence! Relieve me of your audible presence!" I frowned, shuffling around so that I was on the other side from the two.

There was a nice, peaceable silence for most of the ride back to the helecarrier. I was about to fall asleep, I was sure of it. And then, I heard something that sounded suspiciously like Chewbacca. By the surprised expression on his face, I could guess that it belonged to Thor. Apparently, the god of thunder was hungry.

After a few fits of laughter passed from that, the quiet returned and I really did fall asleep that time. Of course, when I woke up in my own room the next morning, I had to wonder just how it was that I got there...

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**[A/N]** I promise it gets to the actual story soon! For now, sit back and enjoy this part! I am currently typing out the res of the chapters, but I can't exactly get behind on it, considering I've already got several already finished up. I really hope you guys like this, regardless, and maybe you'll review and stuff for me!

Love you guys!

~Keys


	5. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** Guess what! I still don't own the Avengers! Big shocker!

This is the longest chapter I have written yet! I'm at 3,937 words with this very chapter, and hopefully I can keep that up!

I would like to thank everyone who is reading this right now (I know half of you skip over this part and just get straight to the actual story, so I'll keep it short, of course) and I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Also a great big thanks to my two lovely followers! It means a lot, truly.

Hum, anyway. ROLL THE FILM!

* * *

"How does Fury see these?"

Tony had, as was usual for him, asked a stupid question. He was just full of them. Almost as full of them as he was of himself. I had just walked out of the area while he was being answered, accidentally bumping into Bruce while I was leaving. "Eh? I'm sorr-" I began to apologize, until I saw who it was. "Bruce," I frowned, my tone lowering in annoyance. We shared a slight glare until I eventually walked away.. "Kyndall," he huffed, turning the other way, as well. There had always been this... this tension- hate between the two of us. Ever since we met about five years ago, I had hated him. No idea why, I just did. Apparently, I wasn't far enough away from the others, because I could hear Tony still. Or maybe he was just too loud. Yeah, that was probably it. Tony Stark was absolutely too loud. "That man is playing Galaga! Though we wouldn't notice, but we did."

"Agent Banner!" a female voice called after me. I looked over my shoulder to see Agent Hill striding towards me. "Yes, Agent Hill?" I turned to face her. "You're cleared for the response team." "Huh?" I spoke intelligently. When it actually registered, I could barely contain my excitement, "Are you serious?!" "Yes. As of today, you're cleared for action. Better suit up; you've all got a mission tonight," Maria spoke more quickly than was usual for her. "Yes, ma'am!" She gave me the last few details before heading toward another group of agents nearby. She turned back at the last second and called to me.

"Oh, and take Sarandon with you."

A few hours later found me changing... and my new suit was actually really cool... and it fit well! It's just that... You could see... well...

_~Flashback~_

_When I woke up, my chest was burning. God, did it hurt... "You've been asleep a while, Banner." That was Director Fury. It took a few minutes for my eyelids to unglue themselves. Then my eyes had to adjust to the light. After that, though... I didn't feel awful. Just tired and- ouch! I whimpered a bit at the harsh stinging in my chest. Groaning, I tried to sit up. It took a while for me to adjust to the pain of it all. Once I was up, I looked at him. "Ugh... How long?" "A few days. You are lucky to have woken up, Agent Banner. Most people don't," he emphasized, the weight in his tone making me cringe. Both of us were very still for a while, not even my breathing was making as much noise as normal. "Does it hurt?" he asked after a few moments of silence. "Yeah. Mostly right here," I replied, pointing to my heavily bandaged chest. "Good."_

_That was all he said before taking his leave. I could hear the engines; I was definitely still on the helecarrier. Slowly, I pushed myself off of the little cot I'd been lying on. It took me a few moments to find a mirror in there. Had my hair grown in the time I had been out? No, surely not... It couldn't have; it was probably my mind playing tricks. I looked further down on the mirror, frowning. Something was off, really off. I shook my head, attempting to force the thought out with it. I had always over-thought things. This was no exception. I made myself turn the other way, looking to the window. It was night outside and the stars were glowing. I smiled brightly upon seeing them- so beautiful. I tried to pick out constellations, but I couldn't find any. Something was really wrong, because I knew most of the constellations in the northern hemisphere._

_My hand reached up to the window and there was a little blue flash before it shattered, leaving heavy wiring and plugs in its place. That had been a screen! Not a real window at all, just a screen! I could feel my heartbeat speeding as I ran to the door on the opposite wall, beating my palms against it. "Fury! Let me out of here!" I shouted, reaching one hand down to wiggle the knob frantically. No use, it was locked. And probably locked with fourteen different types of locks, all from the outside._

_Forehead against the cool steel door for a moment, I tried to hatch a plan. I needed a way out... but the door was locked and the window was fake. A lightbulb lit in my head and I grinned. The window was fake. I looked around the room; anything would help. I scanned the room, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was good. Too good. There was nothing... Nothing I could do. The floor seemed the best place for me at the moment. I couldn't think straight. Head between my knees is how I stayed for what felt like a long time. Letting out a deep breath, I fell back against the door and closed my eyes. What was I going to do?_

_Swirling colors filled my head, and I thought I could see the computer part of the window screen. As soon as I opened my eyes, though, it was gone. Yeah, I was just going crazy. I laughed bitterly at my own antics, leaning back once again. As soon as I closed my eyes, though, the picture came back. I could see... outside of the room? Is that what I was seeing? Not only that- somehow, I was seeing behind me, as well. I could see the locks on the door... I jumped up to my feet, eyes snapped open and hands pressed into the door as if I could unlock them from my side. I couldn't see it anymore... Slowly, I pressed my forehead to the door and closed my eyes again, but it wouldn't come back. Why wouldn't it come back?! I beat angrily on the door one last time, eyes still shut. I couldn't take it! My eyes blinked open, a tear falling to the cold tile under my feet. I sniffed, leaning forward to touch the door again, but..._

_It was gone. The door was lying on the ground in front of me, a dent adorning the middle of it. I hadn't done that... Surely, I hadn't done that. But those thoughts were stashed away when I noticed all the agents gaping at the door and at me, a few running to get security. " No, don't do that. Don't move; just answer me this. Where is Director Fury?" I kept a calm tone, wiping away that one tear with the heel of my hand. Nobody answered me, and I realized why. They were all afraid of me. Not that I could blame them, really, but it still took a while to sink in. "Wait, wait," I tried to smile. "I promise I won't hurt anyone. An' if that door was me, then sorry. Didn't know I was that good. Just... Tell me where Fury is. I need to talk to him. Really, that's it. I'm assuming he's on the deck?" A few gave horrified nods, but one woman came to stop me the moment I reached the elevator. I knew her the moment I saw her. Agent Maria Hill._

_"You won't get anywhere without your ID," she spoke matter-o-factly, arms crossed over her chest. "We don't have IDs, we have handprints and eye-scanners," I responded, giving her a look. "Those only remain valid for six months without being used." My heart stopped when I heard that. I had... Fury said I was only gone for a few days! Days, not months! I couldn't find any way to respond to that statement, he had lied to me. Lied straight to my face..._

_Agent Hill seemed to noticed my trouble processing this information. "Didn't you... He didn't tell you, did he, Kyndall?" her tone was much softer now, laced with pity. "Few.. Few days... He told me it was a few.. days. Not months..." I forced as much out as I could. Maria shouted a few commands to the others that I didn't particularly care about. Through the hushed whispers and feet shuffling, I knew that she had cleared the room. It was only the two of us. And that was when I lost it. And then, she made herself tell me what looked like the hardest thing in her entire life._

_"Kyndall, you've been out for almost three years."_

_It had been a few weeks since I had woken up, and now I was alright. Not good, not better, just alright. But one question had been constantly plaguing me. How did I do all of that after I woke up? And what did it look like under the bandage, I wondered._

_It was loose, so it wasn't like I wouldn't be able to take a peek. Cautiously, I pulled the front of it down._

_My hand felt numb; I could only stare at this.. this... The Tesseract had blown a hole straight through my chest. It was pitch black in there, but I saw... stars? Were those shining white spaces... stars? Certainly not. Couldn't be. I must have been hallucinating, I just knew I was. I was going to put my hand there and I would feel whatever was really there. A wound, probably. Maybe not- maybe this whole thing was just a part of it._

_What I felt was not skin, not any form of flesh whatsoever. My fingers were inside this pocket of.. space... literally, space... It was absolutely freezing inside, and I could push my entire arm inside if I really tried to angle i- Nope. I was going to be sick. Thankfully there was a trash can nearby... When I finally got over it, I yanked the bandages back over it. I was afraid, more afraid of it than anything I had ever been in my life. How would my dad react? How would Fury react? He acted before like he didn't even want to look at me.. What was going to happen to me now?_

_The questions raced through my head, never quite reaching the answer. Eventually, after another two rounds with the trash can, I realized I was just over-thinking. Yeah, that was all. This wasn't real. Couldn't be, it wasn't possible. It wasn't possible..._

_~End Flashback~_

That was six years ago... I shivered at the memory, trying not to think about it too much. Not again. Finally, I pulled one of my new boots on- all a part of the suit. It was nice, I'd give it that, but it was like wearing a second skin! I almost couldn't breathe in it, it was so tight. Once catching sight of the mirror, I bounced to it on one leg, pulling my other boot onto the other. I smiled at my reflection; I didn't look too bad. It was a white, sleeveless catsuit with black trimming. The boots and gloves (because they just had to make me wear gloves) were a dark blue in color. They were almost like that little old police box she had seen while flying to Stuttgart earlier...

My eyes locked onto the now-visible crater in my chest. The suit was also a bit... revealing. A zipper ended just below the top of the area and I pulled it up a tad more, so the place was just underneath. Of course, when I moved at all the zipper went right back down, but I couldn't zip it up all the way because it would be around my neck. Couldn't do that... I just sighed and let it go. This wasn't a fight that I was going to win.

Exhaling once again, I made my way to the door and poked my head outside. All clear. I ran down the hallway to find Becca's room, where I had been told she would be. She had been assigned to Tony and Thor the way I was to Steve and Bruce. She had just been given a suit as well, though she wasn't quite a part of the Initiative. She was more like an aide- and we needed her. She was about like Hawkeye, except with two tiny pistols.

This suit was seriously tight. Comfortable enough, but... I just wasn't used to wearing something so.. form-fitting. "Nevermind," I sighed to myself, still headed for Becca's room. Curse whoever set our rooms on opposite sides and floors of this place. "Ky-" At the sound of my name, I turned around. There stood Steve, all suited up, jaw dropped slightly at seeing my.. erm... outfit. He blushed darkly, trailing off after my name and failing to say anything else. I felt so bad, even if it was kind of funny- he had missed so much... This certainly had to be a bit much. I tried not to show it, though.

"Yes, Captain?" I asked, managing to bottle my laughter. Although, I did feel that little flutter in the pit of my stomach. "I-I.. uhm... N-Nothing!" he finally sputtered out. "Alright. If you're sure?" I smiled. Maybe he would remember what it was that he wanted. "I.. I.. Yeah." But as soon as I turned around, he grabbed my shoulder. "Kyndall, is that why S.H.I.E.L.D. calls you 'Abyss'?" I let out a slight laugh, knowing immediately what he meant. "Yeah. Tesseract blew me through a few years back," I continued to smile at him. He looked concerned as his eyes flickered down to it then back at my face, his blood red. Probably because of the positioning of it. "KYNDALL MARIE BANNER!"

Cringing, I turned in the direction that it had come from. Becca was looking for me. "I should go..." I mumbled, smiling sheepishly up at the blond. "O-Oh! Of course, Kyn," he replied quickly. I could still feel that strange fluttering in my belly; I guessed it was just from seeing Steve blush so darkly. It was adorable- poor guy.

A couple awkward (and I mean awkward) smiles were passed between the two of us before I scurried away to find my friend. I kicked her door open heroically, hands on my hops and chest (even though it wasn't necessary on any level) puffed out. "I'm here!" I called in my generic male voice. "What were your other two wishes?" I closed the door behind me, grinning upon seeing here all suited-up, as well. Of course, her suit matched Stark's in color. But there was a slight difference... Her suit was mostly black, but it had red and green trimming. I nearly fell over from laughing at her next comment. "I look like a frickin' strawberry! And you..." she trailed, spinning to actually get a look.

"You look hot!" I rolled my eyes. "No. No, no; I look like a stipper. You look fantastic, even if your resemblance to fruit is quite noticable." "Well, darlin', if you look like a dancer you better sign me up with your pimp. Berry is making her debut!" she smarted, hand on her hip by the end of her rant. Her rant, which nearly had us both on the cold steel, giggling like drunks.

"Hon, you don't need a pimp whe you've got Stark!" I snorted. Both of us finally managed to stand up straight. She began fanning herself with her hand and sighed dreamily, "Oh, baby! And what a MAN!" "Oh, please! If that is what passes for a man, what has this world come to?!" She scoffed at me, faking her "hurt." "Tony is a real man! It hurts me that you could say that!" I gave her a look, before letting my immaturity take over completely. "Yeah? Well, your mom hurts, too." She was biting the corner of her lip, a sure sign of her contained laughter. "Shh," she grinned, almost about to lose it. "Only on the weekends." And then it was gone; the conversation deteriorated completely after that comment. And then I heard it. Giggling. Schoolgirl type giggling.

Becca and I froze in place, smirking wildly at each other before siding our way toward the door. I motioned with my hand and whispered to my partner in crime, "One, two, three!" And we flung the door open. With a thud, two figures landed in a heap on the ground. Tony was on his stomach on the hard floor, and on top of his back was... Thor?

"What mortal trickery is this weekend you speak of?" Thor demanded, leaping back onto his feet and ready to call his hammer. Becca- and myself, too, no doubt- was just standing there, an incredulous expression plastered to her face. But Tony took over for us. "A weekend, my friend, is simply the end of the week. Seven days in a week, and the last two- Saturday and Sunday- are refered to as the week-end." Thor still looked suspicious about the whole idea.  
"Just think of it this way: we battle against huge metal machines or vast seas of chemically-treated trees all day for five days, then take the other two to rest. At least, until the cycle repeats," I tried to beef it up to Asgardian terms for the god. It wasn't long before I realized that I had lost him at the word "battle."

"Ah, battle! My bones yearn for the heat of it!" Yep. Giving up was the best option. "ANYWAY," Becca interjected, ready to change the subject. "So, Iron Man..." she began, purring slightly. Oh, I was going to be sick... "How long have you two been listening?" Stark thought about it for a minute, "Hmm... Have been for a while, actually."

"Oh! I remember. And Kyn, sweetie?" Stark turned to me. "If I don't pass for a man, who does?" I was not about to answer that. I just frowned at him. Clearly he had been listening for long enough. "Oh, wait! No, no, no- wait. I've got it, Capsicle, right?"

Blood rushed to my cheeks and I gaped at him. I didn't like Steve... Well, that was a lie; sure I liked him! But... not like.. not like that. Did I? "What?!" I forced out, very intelligently. Tony Stark smirked widely, Becca actually frowning at his sly remarks. "Tony, stop..." she warned. "Oh, so it is Steve! When did this start?" Tony laughed, mischief being the only thing visible in his eyes. "Shut it!" I snapped, my entire face flushed in embarrassment. I couldn't have feelings for him! I didn't!

The others in the room continued their silence, Tony laughing even as I stormed out of the room. I would have rather been hanging out with Bruce. "Oh, come on, Kyn! Who doesn't want that big hunk of U.S.?!" he called out of Becca's door. And it echoed. That single question echoed through the entire hall- probably all floors of the barracks heard that. My face darkened considerably and I hung my head in attempt to hide myself. Because that was the major question. What girl out there didn't want Steve? Because it surely wasn't me.

"Kyn!" Becca called, and my legs finally began moving again. I ran down the hall to escape... at least, until I ran into something. Wall? Nope. Warmer... and... breathing. I had to have been a total mess by now. And who else would it have been that I would run into but the man himself: Steve Rogers.

"S-Sorry!" I yelped out, trying to get past him. I tried to force a smile, but I knew he would have heard that. "It's fine, Kyndall. You alright, though?" he asked, concern in those blue eyes. "Y-Yeah. Never better..." I stumbled over my words. I just needed to get out. Clear my head. "I just need to watch where I'm going," I actually managed to regain a sliver of my composure, but I still couldn't look at his face. Again I tried to push past him, but this time he grabbed my shoulder and leaned down to my eye level so I had to look at him. "Hey... Hey." He spoke firmly, and I finally glanced up.

"Don't worry about him. Because..." the Captain cleared his through, talking loud enough that the man to blame could hear him. "This big hunk of U.S." He returned to his hushed tone that he had been speaking in before, "doesn't care about anything he has to say. I do, however, care about you." God, my face was burning now. But I smiled; he was just too sweet. Completely clueless, but still sweet.

"Anyway, I came to find you for our mission. We do have a mission, right?" he asked, unsure of it. He hadn't really been able to comprehend half of the last meeting with Fury, so I just smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I should go find the others. You got the time?" I inquired. Bad feeling gone. I was just happy that the Captain was so oblivious. "It is... 22:00," he answered, pausing to check his watch. "Right, better be off, then."

Finding the others mostly meant going after my brother. I knew where everyone else was. "I'll walk with you," Steve beamed, falling into step beside me. I had to wonder, where was the man from earlier? The one who couldn't even speak without my back turned? But I didn't ask. "Alright, then."

We walked back to Becca's room and I noticed that she had shut her door. There was one other detail, though... A sock covered the doorknob. Apparently, though, that didn't matter to the- very much innocent- Captain because he barged in. Thankfully, Tony hadn't gotten too far with her. Poor Cap...  
Exhaling deeply, I pushed by him and knocked on the wall, "Guys!" But they couldn't hear me over their massive makeout session. I just wasn't that fortunate... I looked around, trying to think of a way to get their attention. Shoes.

A grin spread across my face when I saw her stilettos from that night in Stuttgart. I grabbed them up into my arms and tossed one at each of them, successfully hitting Stark in the side of his neck and Becca on her hip. "Hey, lovebirds! Or... whatever you call yourselves now... We have orders to head out to Brooklyn tonight. We have to be there thirty minutes ago, so get a move on!"

Becca was now jogging in place, one hand rubbing her hip. "Whoo, baby! That flippin' hurt!" she howled. Tony seemed indifferent about the large stilleto heel striking him, but Thor- who was, apparently, still there... maybe watching? No.. ew- thought more of it. "My friend, this woman has marked you!" Ah, yes... that was quite a lovely bruise forming... but I doubted that I had done that...

We just let everyone believe it was the shoe. "Alright, ladies! Let's move out, yeah?" I called, waving a hand in the direction I was going. All that was left was to go after Bruce... Yay. "Hey, Steve? Could you do me a huge favor and go get Dr. Banner?" I asked, ready to beg if I needed. "Sure, I-" Cut off. By a shoe. To the face...

"Nope! He's coming with us, babe. Go deal with the big guy yourself," Becca smiled, linking hands with Tony and taking her leave. She couldn't even give him the dignity to follow orders, nope! She just had to drag him along by the neck of his suit.

"Great..." I mumbled to nobody in particular. Shuffling to the elevator, I headed for Bruce's lab. Tonight was just going to be a hoot and a half...

* * *

**[A/N]** So? How was that!? Getting a little more on Kyndall's backstory now! Cookies to anyone who saw the Doctor Who reference in there! Extra cookies to anyone who tells me that they found the Doctor Who reference in there! I'm just kidding around with that little bit, but please do review for me! Anything you would like to say would be helpful!

I'm finally getting the whole posting-once-a-week thing down, I think! Anywho, thanks for reading and I'll seeya next week!

~Keys


	6. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I STILL DON'T OWN THE AVENGERS! Sorry to disappoint!

* * *

We were all on our way. Finding Bruce was easy enough, considering he had taken it upon himself to go to the Quinjet without telling anyone. I only wish I would've known that _before _I went all the way up the several flights of stairs; oh well, though; score one for team Abyss, I suppose. With everyone finally packed up, we headed for Brooklyn. Becca and I had never been, so naturally, we were hogging all the windows on the left side. Well, us and Steve.

"I got beat up in that alley!" he said quickly, causing both of us to take a good, long 'what the fridgetoast' type look at him. But he wasn't finished yet. "And that parking lot... and behind that diner..." "And you'll be able to add this Quinjet if you don't SHUT UP!" Becca barked at him. I gave her a look, wondering exactly when I became the mature one. Seriously, what were we, two year-olds? Two people can play that game.

"Alright, Becca. You're in time out!" I demanded, pointing her to the back of the plane. "Go sit in the corner!" Her eyes got wide fast and she immediately tried to justify herself, "Bu-But! I didn't mean it!" "Time out!" I insisted, throwing both arms in that direction to point. Pouting, she stormed back there. "Ooh, feisty!" Tony was about to wink. He had the _nerve_ to wink. "You want to end up in time out, too?!" "Yes, please."

After several hours of endless arguments and a pounding headache, we ruled the mission to be totally unsuccessful. Even Bruce, in between us brawling like children, couldn't get a good signal on the cube. So, we resigned to our pre-paid hotel room, courtesy of Director Fury. Because our pilot left us and it was insisted that no Quinjets were going to come after this now. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but we were provided only one room. One room and two beds. Becca and I had taken it upon ourselves to assess the situation and figure the sleeping arrangements. The only problem was telling the guys…

"Alright, boys, this is how it's goin' down!" Becca shouted, starting it off and waiting for me to tell them. I bit back a laugh before explaining it to the four of them. "Steve and Bruce, all three of us are in this bed; Thor and Tony, you get the _supreme_ joy of bunking with Becca," I announced, sarcasm dripping from that last sentence. Of course, Stark was the first to agree.

Bruce started to speak up, but was beaten to it by the Captain. "Kyndall? Why don't you two girls share a bed and we split between the bed and the couch?" One of the problems of being on a team with a 1920s man… but he wasn't finished, yet. I watched as he frowned and continued, "Wouldn't that be more... appropriate?" His face was red, as red as it could get. But I was not budging on this.

"No way! That is not happening; she is not sleeping with me! She kicks..." I groaned, catching Tony's perv-dar. "And screams," I added with a smirk, noticing the brunet's careful attention. "Those are _night terrors_! Why would you twist things like that?!" she corrected rather quickly, hands up in defense. "Oh, you wouldn't believe how _flexible_ she is! I've woken up with her practically bent all over me before!" I told Stark, smirk widening. No matter how embarrassed she was acting, I knew she loved it.

"Hey!" she pretend-gaped at me, winking to me before she looked back to Stark. "I've never done anything, I promise! Scout's honor!" the brunette swore, right hand up with her fingers extended. This usually would be respectable, but... this was also Becca. And Becca, being herself, had held up two fingers instead of three.

Apparently, she was the only person in the world (besides Thor, of course) that didn't know how to swear on Scout's honor. Tony was trying not to start giggling—like he tended to do sometimes, Steve was in the back of our suite, head connected with the wall, and Bruce was face-palming. Then there was me, poor me, left to fix her mistake.

Slowly, I reached over to pull her third finger up with the others. I sighed and shook my head afterwards, followed by the other three humans in the room while Becca grinned sheepishly at me, her cheeks a light pink. "Eh-heh... Thanks, babe!" she laughed a bit nervously. "Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into?" Tony groaned to himself, although Becca and I could hear. "Oh, lighten up, Sweet-cheeks! We're sharing a bed till all this is over!" she giggled, lightly tapping his cheek with her, still in use, Scout's honor. Yep, let the games begin.

"Alright, Team Becca, get to bed. You guys are going out first in the morning. Four in the AM, got it?" I ordered, arms crossed over my chest. I could hear the collective groan, and if I didn't have my brother on my team it would have been us. Because to Steve, four in the morning was nothing. But to Bruce Banner... And me, too, I guess.. Let's just say we aren't morning people. But, of course, Stark had to put his two cents into the matter. "And who put you in charge?" he snorted, clearly unimpressed. "Nick Fury and the Banner hereditary morning-anger league." "Fair enough."

With that, the three of them went to bed, the male percent of the group finding sleep easily. Becca, however, was not so fortunate. "Kyn..." she whined after a few minutes. I had to turn to see what it was that she wanted. Couldn't say it was quite what I had expected. Thor was splayed across the bad, successfully taking up half of it. Maybe more than half... Yeah. Poor Becca was left squished between the two, though she chose to face Tony. I only grinned, not about to help her with this one. "Sweet dreams, Scout."

On that note, I turned out the light and looked at my own team members. "Bruce, Steve; get some sleep. We're going to be up early, as well," I spoke softly to the two men. Bruce offered a moody sigh, but went for the bed. "You sure you wouldn't rather that I sleep on the couch?" Steve questioned in the same soft tone. "Agent Romanoff will be joining us soon; she prefers to sleep alone." Lie.

"Oh…" was all he said. I chuckled to myself. "Alright, soldier. Off to bed with you," Steve, although masked by the lack of light, turned to me. "And what about you?" I sighed lightly. "I'll be back soon." Lie. I was not about to get in a bed with Bruce. I think I would've rather slept in the floor. Actually, that didn't sound so bad… "You're going to take the couch until Natasha gets here, aren't you?" "Huh, no. Of course not," I answered honestly that time. But Steve could see straight through me. "I know that you and Dr. Banner have a rough relationship—" "Try none at all!" I interjected rather loudly, covering my mouth quickly.

After checking the others carefully, I saw that nobody had been awakened by my little splurge of emotion. Steve and I let out an exhale, and I opened my mouth to say something else, but I was stopped. "Kyndall Marie, get in this bed and go to sleep. _Now_," my brother said firmly, making me jump a little. "O-Ok…" I murmured gently, shuffling over to the edge of the mattress and rolling in. Steve—although slowly and hesitantly—was right behind me. "_Goodnight_, Kyndall." Still, my brother spoke with firmness in his voice. "Goodnight, Bruce…" And after some of the awkward tension had passed, sleep found me.

-Third Person-

Steve Rogers rolled to the very edge of the bed, about to get up. This was wrong; he was better to sleep in the floor. The bed creaked when he started to sit up, and he looked around to make sure nobody had been awakened. Seeing that no one moved, he started again.

"I wouldn't if I were you," a voice murmured from the other side of the room. The blond turned to see Becca propped up on her elbows. "If you get up, she will either never forgive you for leaving her with him or she'll wake up and go off by herself." Steve gave the brunette woman a look, "It's not right for a man to share a bed with a woman he isn't married to." "Steve, trust me and just take one for the team. I know you're uncomfortable, but we don't want her angry… or lost."

Steve didn't listen to her. He got to his feet silently and moved around to the middle of the floor before sitting down. "Rebecca, I don't expect people of your age to understand but in my time, there were certain things a man didn't do out of respect. Those days may be gone, but since I am here I will continue to live by those rules. Goodnight."

Becca knew that conversation was over once he lay down… She just hoped that she was wrong this time.

-Kyndall-

The room was still dark when I woke up. I could hear the collective snores as I sat up, looking around. Steve was gone… Him and his morals… Well, I wasn't about to stay that close to Bruce if I didn't have to. I sneaked out of the bed and looked around. I could see that Natasha had arrived. Checking to make sure everyone was sound asleep, I tip-toed out of the door and down the stairs of the hotel. I smoothed my hair back behind me… I wished that I had remembered my hair tie.

The night sky was calmer than I had seen for a few weeks. It was easy to forget exactly what we were there for. "Splendid, is it not?" a foreign voice echoed from behind me. I spun quickly to face him—exactly who we were looking for. Loki. I reached for my little pistol, only to find that it was gone… I must have left it in the room. "No, no. Don't do that, love. I'm only here to talk," he smirked at me. I didn't return any form of expression. I needed to get back to the others…

"And if I don't want to talk?" I responded, taking a few steps back in the direction that I had come. "Oh, certainly you can respect that I do. It is only talking; what could possibly go wrong?" "I think we both know the answer to that, Loki," I answered calmly, taking another step toward the door of the hotel.

-Third Person-

An alarm went off at four in the morning, effectively waking the one of the three it was intended to. Becca was the first to sit up and rub her eyes, jumping to the bottom edge of the mattress. Upon getting up, she nearly stepped on the soldier lying in the floor. He was still asleep. Yawning, she roused the other two of her team. "Get up," she spoke groggily. "Time to head out…" But something was wrong. Really wrong. Spinning to look at the other bed, her fears were confirmed. Kyndall Banner was not in that bed. Maybe she was just out for a walk… Yeah, that was it.

Kyn hadn't left a note, either. She hadn't taken anything with her… Strange, Becca thought. Once they were ready, the three of them went outside and started scouting about the streets. They checked high and low for any signs of Loki. "Becca?" Tony asked cautiously. "You need to come and see this…"

When the brunette turned to look at the same thing he was, her eyes widened in absolute horror. He was pointing down an alley at a pile of dark red hair and a few shreds of white and black and red spandex. There was also a communicator left with the stash. "Those aren't… are they?" he inquired softly. "No…" she whispered, going to check it out. The device had her name on it, and she bowed her head. She was going to kill that soldier.

"It's Kyn."

* * *

**[A/N]** Well? Whaddaya think? This is where the story really takes a sort of turn... Anyone want to guess what happened to her? :D Anyways, reviews _would_ be welcome if anyone ever bothered to leave them. Also, I am super, super sorry about the late update! I got distracted last night before I could put it up, so I am sorry! So sorry!

Feel free to leave reviews (and please do... I need to know if anyone actually likes this little fic). I'm gonna just try this out, but I want at least 2 reviews before I post again! That would be very lovely!

I would also like to thank my followers! Kudos and many cookies go your way:

**Alex-Kurotani**

**Irrelevant86**

**TheVoiceInYourHead-x**

**It199798**

Hope you liked this chapter! I know it's short, and I'm sorry, but it kinda has to be! The next will be much longer, I promise!

Until the next,

~Keys


	7. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS, THE CHARACTERS, OR ANYTHING MARVEL RELATED! THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY

* * *

_An alarm went off at four in the morning, effectively waking the one of the three it was intended to. Becca was the first to sit up and rub her eyes, jumping to the bottom edge of the mattress. Upon getting up, she nearly stepped on the soldier lying in the floor. He was still asleep. Yawning, she roused the other two of her team. "Get up," she spoke groggily. "Time to head out…" But something was wrong. Really wrong. Spinning to look at the other bed, her fears were confirmed. Kyndall Banner was not in that bed. Maybe she was just out for a walk… Yeah, that was it._

_Kyn hadn't left a note, either. She hadn't taken anything with her… Strange, Becca thought. Once they were ready, the three of them went outside and started scouting about the streets. They checked high and low for any signs of Loki. "Becca?" Tony asked cautiously. "You need to come and see this…"_

_When the brunette turned to look at the same thing he was, her eyes widened in absolute horror. He was pointing down an alley at a pile of dark red hair and a few shreds of white and black and red spandex. There was also a communicator left with the stash. "Those aren't… are they?" he inquired softly. "No…" she whispered, going to check it out. The device had her name on it, and she bowed her head. She was going to kill that soldier._

_"It's Kyn."_

"-kill you and then skin you and light what's left on fire!"

That was how Natasha, Steve, and Bruce all woke up. The Russian was the first to say something, growling as she smoothed her bed head, "What in the world…" Steve had rolled over in the floor, accidentally hitting his head on one of the metal bed frames. He groaned and pushed himself up on the empty mattress. "Tie you—horse-foxes—drowned in butter—dead—" Only small fragments of the threats were coherent through the walls and sounds of someone stomping around. It was about that time that the door of the hotel slammed open.

"Steven Tiberius Rogers!"

The blond looked up to see a fuming Becca. He couldn't help but laugh at her antics, especially the silliness of what she had just said. Tony poked out from behind her for a moment before having to dodge her pistol-whip. "I—wouldn't—do—that—if—I—were—you!" he said in between ducks. The brunette woman stormed up to the soldier, eyes ablaze, and snapped. "GONE! –_your_ fault—you… She—if you—just—" she choked down a sob, totally breaking down in the middle of that room.

Steve stared down at Becca, not quite sure what he had just heard. "Okay, Rebecca… Little slower, please," he spoke softly, trying to calm her down. "No!" she shrieked. "My best friend is gone because of _you!_" That hit the super soldier really hard. Blue eyes widened, he stumbled back and sat on the bed. Upon looking around, she was right. Kyn wasn't with them. He tried to reason with himself. He had done the right thing the night before. He knew he had done the right thing.

"I'm sure she will be back soon. You're probably just—" "Just _what_? Over-reacting? No, I'm not! I _told_ you this would happen! I told you exactly what would happen if you got out of that bed, and now she is gone!" Becca howled, face flushing in her anger. Steve still couldn't believe what he was hearing. This wasn't his fault, was it? It wasn't like he had pulled Kyn out of that bed and dropped her on the street… but he hadn't listened to Becca. He might as well have.

Tony Stark finally joined them in the room, holding out a mangled communicator. They all knew exactly whose it was. Steve's head hung low. This really was because of him. It was then that the forgotten one in the room made himself known. His hand reached for the broken scrap, rolling it over and examining it.

"Let's go," was all Bruce had to say before all—save for Natasha, who was too intent on completing her mission only—went out in search of Kyndall.

* * *

A clanking noise echoed through the basement of an old building, following by the clicking of heels. He was pacing through the damp, mildewing air. "Why doesn't my power work on you? I wonder…" the god mused, deep in thought. A louder clang of metal on metal rang out before she answered. "Back off," a female voice warned. After switching on a light, he could actually see her eyes dimming from golden to green. "How… interesting," he smirked, leaning toward the girl and tilting her chin up to get a better view.

Kyn tried to free herself, but to no avail. Loki had a firm grip, and she couldn't take her eyes off of with him clutching her face so tightly. "Let go of me…." She mumbled, brows furrowing in irritation. She could get out of those chains if she could just…

"However, more pressing matters have risen… I'm fascinated; why can't I use you? What makes _you_ so… special?"

"What are you even talking about?" she frowned, finally managing to jerk away from his grip. "I touch your heart with my scepter, you become mine. The Tesseract shows you everything, makes you obey," he explained, releasing her and resuming his pacing. The redhead snorted, clearly amused. "My heart? Guess you're out of luck. Don't have one." He glared at her, though Kyndall tried her best to not react. "Silence, you stupid ape! Everything has a heart; even one so great as I," his temper flashed and his skin began to turn a shade of blue, but the god of mischief quickly regained his coolness.

"I'm being serious. No heart—no mind control for you," she smarted.

His rage returned and there was a loud crack as his palm connected with her cheek. "I… am not afraid of you," she swallowed thickly, squeezing her eyes shut to keep her tears back. He smacked her again, "You are sadly mistaken, you mewling quim! I will be the only object of your fear, of your respect, of your _admiration_. Whether you come willingly or not, you will be mine and mine _alone._ Do you understand?"

Kyn only watched as he turned away and began to pace again. She shut her eyes quickly—tightly—and focused on the chains holding her down to the floor. She could see the lock, she could feel it moving just so lightly under her mind's actions. She felt her long hair brushing her wrists as she pulled out of the cuffs quietly. Just at that moment, Loki turned again to face her. "Tell me, why wouldn't you possess a heart?"

"Long story," she frowned. He gave her a commanding look, but his tone stayed soft. "I would expect that you have plenty of that, pet." The redhead didn't particularly enjoy the sound of that. "I am not your pet," she said simply. "You don't understand, love, you belong to me now. Your little friends cannot save you. They _will_ not save you," he attempted to discourage her, and she saw for a moment how his guard dropped. She smirked, unable to bottle her laughter now.

Quickly she jumped up and pulled her arms from behind her back. "They don't have to, _god_."

* * *

"Miss Banner; we do not require all these extra details."

My eyes came back to the dark conference room as they spoke to me. I just gave them a look, "This is important if you would like to know everything, sir. I wouldn't tell more than is necessary." The woman sighed, "How did you allow yourself to be captured by this monster?" I couldn't help but to snort up at him. "Are you serious?" I scoffed. "You don't even know. You don't, so don't pretend you do. But I'll tell you; make notes on that, I will tell you _exactly_ what happened to me. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

**[A/N] **I am so so sorry that this is so late! I've been editing this story to death to fit in some more believable things, so writing it all can take a while! So very sorry for the wait!

Thank you so much for the review **Alex-Kurotani **you made my day!

I'd like another review before the next chapter, but I will post without one. Until the next post!

~Keys


	8. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:**I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS, MARVEL, OR ANY OF JOSS WHEDON'S PURE AWESOMENESS. THANK YOU AND GOOD DAY.

* * *

_"I am not your pet," she said simply. "You don't understand, love, you belong to me now. Your little friends cannot save you. They will not save you," he attempted to discourage her, and she saw for a moment how his guard dropped. She smirked, unable to bottle her laughter now._

_Quickly she jumped up and pulled her arms from behind her back. "They don't have to, god."_

* * *

_"Miss Banner; we do not require all these extra details."_

_My eyes came back to the dark conference room as they spoke to me. I just gave them a look, "This is important if you would like to know everything, sir. I wouldn't tell more than is necessary." The woman sighed, "How did you allow yourself to be captured by this monster?" I couldn't help but to snort up at him. "Are you serious?" I scoffed. "You don't even know. You don't, so don't pretend you do. But I'll tell you; make notes on that, I will tell you exactly what happened to me. Just don't say I didn't warn you."_

* * *

The Avengers had been searching all day for their lost member, but to no avail. As if questioning himself and everything he believed wasn't bad enough, Steve would catch these weak, though disappointed glares from the team every once in a while. To Thor, it wasn't really a big deal… To Bruce and Becca, however… He'd really screwed up.

"Well, Capsicle, now that everyone seems to hate you even more: what's it feel like?" Tony asked indifferently, arm slung over the blond's shoulder. Brushing him off, Steve stalked away to look somewhere else for a while. A scowl was etched all over his face. Suddenly, there was a call over everyone's ear pieces from Natasha. Everyone was to get back to base. The flight was rather awkward for everyone in the quinjet. Becca and Bruce both refused to speak to anyone.

And that was all it took. Steve knew exactly whose fault it was. It was his.

_-X-_

Becca walked the lower corridor of the helecarrier, on her way to Dr. Banner's lab. She had a few things of Kyn's that (although they had been "forbidden" from doing further research on her disappearance) might help them find her. She had been back onboard for about two days now, maybe more. She didn't care anymore. That was when it happened; the crash.

The brunette jolted across the hallway, extending her arms to catch herself on the wall. Something had taken out an engine, or that was the story so far. She could hear the panicked shouts and screams of agents all across the place. She ran for the bridge, worried and looking for the other Avengers. After being passed up by several of Barton's men, she decided it would be best to hide in one of the ID-only rooms. She found herself pressing an ear to the door once on the other side, listening.

"What a pleasant surprise. I haven't had many visitors here; going to read me a story?"

Becca spun on her heels to face the captured god. Venom spilled into her blood, and she would have enjoyed nothing more than dropping the cell right then. But she didn't. "What have you done?!" she spat, stomping closer to the glass. "_I_ haven't done anything. Well, not recently, anyway." "Where's Kyn?" At that, he seemed genuinely surprised, though the woman knew that was a lie. "Who?" "Don't play stupid with me! I know it was you. You can easily escape that cell, I don't know why Fury bothered thinking he could hold you. So where is my friend?"

Loki smirked, vanishing and appearing behind her. "So you know my secret do you? Fine. Very well, I'll tell you this. Your precious Kyndall Banner is gone. May as well be dead; her body, however, belongs to me. She is my own personal slave, much more than Barton or that stupid scientist," he sneered. "She's here, right now. Looking for me. Coming to find _me_, not you or your beast, or any of the other stupid apes here. Me."

To her horror, he kept going. "Once she finds me, I'll let her go to you. All of you will die at my pet's hand; slowly, intimately, with no remorse or consciousness of her actions until just before I'll kill her, too." Becca dashed out of the room as quickly as possible, unable to listen anymore. The last she heard before the door slid shut again was the sound of his laughter from inside the glass once again.

_-X-_

Steve gripped his pistol tightly, shooting at any and all who tried to lure him away from the lever he was guarding. Gunshots rang in his ears, taking him back to the war and country he thought he would die protecting. Blinking at exactly the wrong second, the blond found himself hanging from a loose cable. Trying to keep his grip and shoot at the same time was proving to be quite the difficult task. And of course that moment would be when Tony Stark would have the rotors working properly again.

"I need a minute here!" he grumbled, starting to get a burn on his hand from hanging. "Lever. Now!" The blond started to pull himself up the cable, barely making it to the railing he had been hanging on previously. A few shots glanced off the wall, a little too close to actually hitting him. Steve finally got to the lever, yanking it down. It was then that he saw her. A woman, and one that didn't quite belong.

She looked dreadfully familiar, but Steve couldn't get a good enough look at her face. When he did though…

"Kyn?" he called, unsure but trying to get her to look at him. She didn't even notice. He tried again, louder and about to run to her until he nearly got shot again. A blur of red and gold smashed the last of Barton's men into the wall, leaving only the redheaded woman. She looked so different, so… impractical. Kyndall Banner was dressed in a gold-trimmed green dress that flowed freely around her legs and tied behind her neck, just under the layers of her now-short hair. The wind was whipping the sheer layer of her dress in all directions, revealing the slit in the fabric that came just above her knee.

"Kyndall!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his voice.

She apparently heard that time, because the strange yet familiar woman turned her head to get a look at whoever called her name. Steve's heart had forced it's way up into his throat. Her eyes… The soldier backed away at seeing the glowing gold irises boring into him. He had seen a lot of scary things, a lot of unimaginable, demented, _twisted _things… But whatever had happened here… That wasn't Kyn… not anymore.

The woman's head turned again, sharply, before she sprinted off in the direction she had looked.

_-X-_

Rebecca sobbed at the scene before her. She and Nick Fury were kneeling down before the dying form of a close friend. One they—meaning Kyndall and herself—had come to love as their own family.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me!" Fury commanded. Coulson managed a small smile as he lay against the wall, barely hanging on. "No… I'm clocked out here," he mumbled.

"Not an option."

"It's okay, boss," the other man started. "This was never going to work… if they didn't have something… to…" He trailed off, looking to the side and sighing out his final breath. Becca wiped her cheeks free of tears, her face instantly hardening as the medical team arrived. This would not go unpunished.

_-X-_

"Come along, pet. Lots of planning to do. We'll need you for this."

Kyndall Banner, or what used to be, followed a few steps behind the Asgardian, although not exactly listening. "You know more about the Tesseract than any of the others, which is why I'm trusting you right now," he explained. "I saw one of them… While I was looking for you, I saw someone. I think I knew him." Loki turned to face her quickly, gripping her chin and looking at her eyes for any signs of resistance. He hummed after deciding that it was no threat, questioning her about it. "What did he look like?"

"Blue. He was wearing blue, with a big star right on his chest. He seemed hurt to look at me. Why?" she questioned. The redhead couldn't remember much, but she could see the pain in that man's eyes. "I don't believe that's what it was, pet. The man of whom you speak, he can't be trusted. He's one of the ones who made you like this, love."

Loki grinned to himself, noting the girl's childlike faith in him. Her memories were gone; he could tell her anything he wished, and she would believe _every_ _word_. It pleased him to have such control over someone, he could only imagine the joy of having that power over the entire planet. "But why was he hurting?" "No more questions. Remembering will only hurt you, pet. Do you trust me?" he did his best to sound sincere. Kyndall looked down at her bare feet, troubled.

The god of mischief tilted her chin up to look at him. "You must answer. Do you _trust_ me, Kyndall?"

"Of course, Loki."

* * *

**[A/N] **Hello, fans! I've decided to post this little update early for you, since I feel bad about the last one being so late. I will begin posting regularly again starting this Monday. So it's sort of a double feature ^.^ Hope you enjoy this chapter and I will make the next one extra long!

As per usual, I would like to see another review, maybe two if someone feels generous enough ;)

What I would _reeaaally _like is for you to review with your thoughts of what happened to Kyndall Banner! I want to know what you all are thinking! The closest theory **and **my favorite will both be posted with either the next post or the one after, depending on how many I get.

I would like to thank everyone who has followed and favorited and reviewed for me! It means so much and I give you all AIR FROM MY LUNGS!

I'm just kidding! Kudos and awesome virtual cookies go to all of you :)

Review and such, thanks a ton, and see you Monday!

~Keys


	9. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:**I STILL DON'T OWN THE AVENGERS!

* * *

_Blue. He was wearing blue, with a big star right on his chest. He seemed hurt to look at me. Why?" she questioned. The redhead couldn't remember much, but she could see the pain in that man's eyes. "I don't believe that's what it was, pet. The man of whom you speak, he can't be trusted. He's one of the ones who made you like this, love."_

_Loki grinned to himself, noting the girl's childlike faith in him. Her memories were gone; he could tell her anything he wished, and she would believe every word. It pleased him to have such control over someone, he could only imagine the joy of having that power over the entire planet. "But why was he hurting?" "No more questions. Remembering will only hurt you, pet. Do you trust me?" he did his best to sound sincere. Kyndall looked down at her bare feet, troubled. _

_The god of mischief tilted her chin up to look at him. "You must answer. Do you trust me, Kyndall?" _

_"Of course, Loki."_

* * *

Fury had gathered everyone onto the bridge after losing the Hulk and Loki, holding something in his hands but not letting it be seen quite yet. There was about an eternity of silence before he finally spoke up. Dazed expressions were all around his response team, none of them quite understanding the gravity of the situation.

"These were in Phil Coulson's pocket. Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Steve shrunk down inside of himself as Nick Fury flung the blood-soaked cards onto the table. He gingerly picked one of them up. Just another person he had screwed up with. To his great dismay, the man continued.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, the Banners, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Rebecca, even, was lost inside her own thoughts. The weight of it all had hit her while watching her colleague die. "While you were all too busy with your own holier-than-thou selves, two agents were taken. One was kidnapped, and the other was killed. Kyndall Banner is no doubt dead by this point—Loki had no use for her. So you know what? Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier."

"There was an idea—Stark knows this—called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles that we never could. Kyndall Banner and Phil Coulson both died still believing in that idea: in heroes."

With that, Tony Stark got up and stormed off, not wanting to hear any more. Fury finished before leaving, himself. "Well, it's an old-fashioned notion."

_-X-_

"Come along. We've work to do, love," Kyndall heard the call of Loki. She didn't want to go. She was so comfortable, but she supposed she should. Getting up after a moment, she smoothed the front of her dress and bounded after him, the sheer material waltzing back behind her. "Where to today, Loki?" "It is none of your concern, pet. You need not worry yourself."

They walked a while with each other, but Loki stopped after about a half of an hour and told her to stick around a certain area. She complied immediately, of course, though she wandered the smaller part of town while he was away. She eventually heard a conversation in a damaged building. Kyndall got closer to listen in; it had been a while since she had heard anyone but Loki talking.

"There's no one around here to get hurt…" she heard an older man at first. His voice was followed by one that she knew should be familiar to her, but she couldn't place where… After she had woken up with Loki, she couldn't remember much of anything from before. Sure, she remembered her name and most of her childhood. But after that, nothing.

"Lucky."

"Or just good aim. You were awake when you fell."

Kyndall passed around a corner to try and get a look at what was going on, but the voices faded out. She was getting further away.

"Are you an alien?"

"What?"

"From outer space, an alien?"

"No."

Kyndall tried to hide her laughter at what the older man said next. She had absolutely no idea what was going on with them, but it was apparently 'a condition.'

_-X-_

Becca walked in on Tony and Steve talking, instantly going to Tony to cry. He held her tightly while she sobbed. The two continued their conversation. Steve couldn't make himself look at Becca, so he stared long and hard at the floor.

"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he had to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience," Tony mumbled, rubbing small circles on the woman's back. The rest of the conversation went in a blur for Becca, who blindly followed after the two men once they hit some great epiphany.

"Go with Cap. He'll keep you safe."

Becca couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Did he keep Kyn safe?"

He thought it would get easier, but every time she said it, the facts hit him harder and harder. This time, almost as hard as Coulson's death. He hung his head, unable to say anything. He deserved this, yes. He just wished that he didn't deserve it right that second. Tony snapped, shocking all of them. "Rebecca, he didn't know. Swallow up your pride and all-knowing whatever it is and listen to reason. You're not staying here and you're sure as hell not coming with me."

The brunette woman froze at the words that had just come from his mouth. But he wasn't finished. "I know you're upset about her, I know you wish he had listened. I wish he had, too, but we can't change it now. Move on, and get off his case," he told her, his voice stern. On that note, he was gone. Becca and Steve went to suit up and find the others, silence between them the entire walk.

When they walked in, it was clear that Natasha Romanoff was totally unprepared. "Time to go," he said. "Go where?" "We'll explain on the way there. Can you fly one of those jets?" Just at the exact moment he asked, Agent Barton came on the scene, making both Steve and Becca feel a bit uneasy. He spoke confidently, "I can."

Steve looked at Nat for confirmation, to which she nodded.

"You got a suit?"

"Yeah."

"Then suit up."

_-X-_

Kyndall peeked around the corner after one of the two men she had heard left, staring into the eyes of one a bit older than herself… but there was something about him. Something… she didn't know. Just… _something._

Bruce could see her. He barely recognized her, but he knew exactly who it was. "It's okay. I won't hurt you, I promise. C'mere," he tried, speaking as softly as he could.

When she heard him talking to her, she felt a little better… but worse at the same time. She could tell that he knew her, but she felt bad about it. "Kyndall, please? Just come over here," he spoke, still soft as ever. The redhead finally did, baby-stepping her way toward the man. The brunet stretched a hand out to her. "Who are you?" she asked quietly, trying to match him. She stopped about two feet in front of the end of his arm. "I'm your brother, sweetheart."

Something was wrong about the way he was talking to her. She knew something was off… She just couldn't place it. "Don't remember any brothers," she tested, taking a tiny step backward. "That's probably best for both our sakes. We didn't have a very pleasant relationship," he explained. "Why?" she frowned. There was a slight pain in his eyes, "You really don't remember, do you?" He sighed. "If I told you right now, you'd run away. Let's just say you've been very angry with me for a while."

There was a moment where she want paying attention, and she subconsciously took a few steps more toward her 'brother'. "You said I've been angry with you. Why?" "I can't tell you right now... you'd probably run away. I'm not having that again. Not after I've just found you." There was a moment of quiet before he spoke again. "Are you hurt anywhere?" "Huh?" she was confused. "Are you hurt? Has anyone injured you?" he repeated. Kyndall shook her head, "No, no. I'm fine, Loki takes good care of me." He seemed horrified, "Loki?!" The redhead jumped at the rough voice.

"Yeah… He's the first thing I remember after waking up a few days ago… He's always taking care of me and making sure I'm alright. He's helping me find my memories, too!" she beamed, hands folded behind her back. He gave a small, sad smile before opening his arms for her. She went to him, welcoming the arms closed around her. Bruce sighed gently, giving her a light squeeze. "I'm glad you don't have to remember just yet. But when you do, just know that I hate all the tension between us. I hate having such a bad relationship." She tightened her arms around his back and leaned on him. "I'm sorry, but Kyndall... Loki is the reason you've forgotten. He kidnapped you! I don't know what he's been telling you, and I don't care. You can't go back to him."

Something in that sparked her temper. "I can, too! It's not like you actually care anyway, _Bruce_!" She instantly snapped her mouth shut. Kyn had no idea where that had just come from. "I didn't tell you my name, that's the real you remembering. Come back with me, I can help." "I… I can't," she trembled, staring at him in horror before running off to find Loki.

_-X-_

Kyndall Banner had finally found Loki while he was talking to one of the others. He was on the top floor of Stark Tower. She stood outside for the majority of the talking, totally horrified by what she was hearing.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing can stop that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing." Kyn knew that voice from somewhere. She still couldn't place it…

"Yes, I've met them."

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one."

Kyndall sighed to herself. Who to believe? Bruce… She knew him. She knew that she knew him. He could have taken advantage of her amnesia, played himself up to be the greatest brother on the planet…

The conversation had progressed before she really began to listen again. "It should work. This is the second time now…" "Well, performance issues, y'know?" There was a great crash before she heard Loki again.

"You will all fall before me. And it will start with you and end with that infernal girl. After I am finished with her, that is. She can watch you all die before she realizes what she has done. And then, _then_, while she begs for death and for mercy—I'll give it to her."

That was all she needed to hear before running into the room, but it was too late. Tony had already been disposed of. Yes, that was his name, wasn't it… Tony. Tony Stark. Loki saw Kyndall for a split second, long enough to realize his mistake. She was gone before he had time to correct it. He was a little preoccupied.

She ran out into the street, seeing all of the destruction around her. She wanted to just lay down and cry. Bruce had been right. This really was all Loki. Kyn felt dizzy, almost wanted to be sick at all the corpses and burning buildings. The one person she trusted... She walked an abandoned—so far—street, hissing every once in a while as shards of glass and other debri would pierce into her bare feet.

Eventually, though, she saw a very familiar face. One she recognized instantly.

"K-Kyn?" the brunette woman couldn't believe her eyes. Kyn should have been dead. Becca ran to her, squeezing the other so tightly it was a miracle that either could breathe at all. "Are you alright? What happened to you!?" Becca asked, checking over the other for any injuries. "I'm fine." Kyn frowned a little as the other finally released her. "Oh, we were all so worried about you!"

Kyn frowned deeper at this. Who could she trust now? "Were you?" she asked quietly. "We were all going crazy trying to find you! Bruce was about to go berzerk!" she flung her arms in front of her for emphasis, finally going against herself and hugging the redhead again. There was a silence. "Why am I mad at him?" "What do you mean?" "Why am I mad at Bruce? What happened?" She could see the uncertainty in the other's eyes, but it was soon masked by false confusion. "You're not, not that any of us know. You guys have always been close. The closest of close; perfect siblings."

Becca lied. She felt bad about it for a moment, but she didn't want her to have any reason to run off again. Besides, neither of the Banners ever talked about what had happened. Most of the best and bravest had horror stories, but the ones that couldn't even be told... Agent Sarandon didn't even want to think about it anymore. "No such thing as perfect siblings," Kyn finally responded, voice and eyes dulled. She had no idea what was right or wrong anymore. She only knew what she thought to be right. And perfect anything didn't seem to fit into that. "Where is my brother, anyway?"

"He showed up a little while ago. He's busy smashing things…" Becca was definitely shocked to hear Kyn calling Bruce Banner her older brother. Sure, they all knew they were siblings. They all also knew how terrible their relationship was… So, what had changed?

No time to think about it right then. Battle for humanity going on and all.

* * *

**[A/N] **So? What does everyone think? I hope you all loved this chapter more than life ^.^ (Not really. Joke. Laugh. Ha.)

I'm still waiting for those reviews about what Loki did to Kyn, by the way!

And a great thanks to my reviewer, **CrazyPandaHobbit**! You are absolutely a lamb, and the cookies go to you for this week!

Thanks also to everyone reading and who have favorited and followed and such, you're all wonderful as well.

Read and review, next chapter coming soon, although we're sort of exiting the plotline for the Avengers. I'll tell you now that the actual storyline of Kyn and Becca isn't ending quite yet. Still much more to come, so no worries!

Another review before the next update, please, and goodnight!

~Keys


	10. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I DON'T OWN AVENGERS! THAT IS ALL, CARRY ON.

* * *

_"K-Kyn?" the brunette woman couldn't believe her eyes. Kyn should have been dead. Becca ran to her, squeezing the other so tightly it was a miracle that either could breathe at all. "Are you alright? What happened to you!?" Becca asked, checking over the other for any injuries. "I'm fine." Kyn frowned a little as the other finally released her. "Oh, we were all so worried about you!"_

_Kyn frowned deeper at this. Who could she trust now? "Were you?" she asked quietly. "We were all going crazy trying to find you! Bruce was about to go berzerk!" she flung her arms in front of her for emphasis, finally going against herself and hugging the redhead again. There was a silence. "Why am I mad at him?" "What do you mean?" "Why am I mad at Bruce? What happened?" She could see the uncertainty in the other's eyes, but it was soon masked by false confusion. "You're not, not that any of us know. You guys have always been close. The closest of close; perfect siblings."_

_Becca lied. She felt bad about it for a moment, but she didn't want her to have any reason to run off again. Besides, neither of the Banners ever talked about what had happened. Most of the best and bravest had horror stories, but the ones that couldn't even be told... Agent Sarandon didn't even want to think about it anymore. "No such thing as perfect siblings," Kyn finally responded, voice and eyes dulled. She had no idea what was right or wrong anymore. She only knew what she thought to be right. And perfect anything didn't seem to fit into that. "Where is my brother, anyway?"_

_"He showed up a little while ago. He's busy smashing things…" Becca was definitely shocked to hear Kyn calling Bruce Banner her older brother. Sure, they all knew they were siblings. They all also knew how terrible their relationship was… So, what had changed?_

_No time to think about it right then. Battle for humanity going on and all._

* * *

Kyndall woke up in an unfamiliar place. After trying to open her eyes and sit up all at one time, she realized her big mistake and almost fell in the floor. She groaned and clutched at her head, trying to squeeze out any light that could possibly come through her eyelids. Her head was pounding so hard that she couldn't even think. After a few moments, however, she decided to take a look around. The room wasn't nearly as bright as she had thought it was, but the light still stung a bit.

"Good to see you're awake. How fares you, Lady Kyndall?"

That voice. She knew that voice anywhere. It took time and a little help, but she finally sat up. "Ugh… Thor?" she groaned. "Still ill, I presume. Can you stand?" He was very careful with her, arm under her shoulders to help her to her feet. "Ill? What happened? Is everyone okay?" she spoke quicker, but only made herself dizzy. "The earth is safe, Loki is our prisoner." Kyndall didn't like how he was skirting around the important part. "Thor," she warned, following him to another area. "This conversation is best kept in secret. Everything you need know will be told at a later time, I swear," the god kept his voice lowered.

"Fine," she mumbled, following after—beside of him. "Thor?" she swayed, almost falling completely. "Have no worry. I will catch you," he assured her. Kyn's knees weakened and threatened to totally give out on her. "Thor… What's wrong… with me?" Although the blond gave her an apologetic look, he didn't say anything. Instead, he reached down to pull her up into his arms. "Next time you wake, I swear. Then, you shall know all."

_~Dream~_

_She was looking all around a bright field, almost too bright. "You feeling alright, love?" Another voice she recognized easily. Kyndall wanted to just smack him, but knew it would only be an image. "Leave me alone, Loki… Please…" "Oh, do come around. I only want to talk," he grinned. She frowned, not liking the familiarity of that sentence. _

_"Kyndall, love, what do you know of Earth?" he asked, a flash of doubt across his features. "Nothing… All I remember is seeing… erm.. Becca. I saw Becca and then I woke up here… Wherever here is, exactly," she muttered. The god of mischief laughed, taking a seat on the grass and gesturing for her to do the same. After she finally did, Loki looked up and let out an exhale._

_"Alright… Where to start, where to start… You're on Asgard—welcome, by the way—because you fell ill while on earth. Can't tell you why, yet, but I promise it's an enjoyable story. Everyone is… safe," there was another word smashed into that statement, although unintelligible. "So, your world? I'm in your world?" she asked incredulously. "Yes." "With you and your brother?" "And the rest of my people, yes." _

_"And you can't tell me why?"_

_"No."_

_"You're their prisoner."_

_"Yes."_

_"Why?"_

_"Same reason you're here. Someone made a mistake. Just, don't believe everything you hear."_

_~End Dream~_

"Lady Kyndall." The redheaded woman found herself in the same place she had woke up in earlier. This was going to be a very interesting day for her.

By the time she came back to herself most of the way, Kyndall still couldn't remember half of anything about anyone she knew. Even Thor and Loki's father could not tell her what had happened to her. It was very clear that he did not approve of her being in Asgard, but their mother insisted she stay until she was cured of it. Frigga, she believed the queen's name was. So kind and compassionate to her. Kyn was sure to thank the queen for everything, as well as the Allfather and Thor. Thor especially, since it was he who had brought her there.

"Oh, come now. Don't be so silly, Lady Kyndall. You're more than welcome here. Anywho, to bed with you. I do believe my mother will be showing you to your quarters." The redhead bowed respectfully to him before spotting said woman. The walk through the palace was silent, save for the very end.

"Goodnight, Kyndall. Sleep well."

Once the door was shut, another voice echoed. "Indeed, Kyndall. Sleep well." Sighing, she responded. "What do you want now, Loki?" "Nothing, but to wish you a good night's sleep." He looked awfully innocent (sarcasm level: ginger) but she could see through it. "I'm sure." He tucked her into bed lightly, smiling a little as he did so.

"Honestly. I do mean it," he murmured, the image leaning forward to kiss her forehead before fading out. "Sleep well, and stay safe."

* * *

**[A/N] ** Hiya! I am extremely sorry that this chapter is so freaking short! Anywho, hope you all liked it anyway!

Thanks to my constant reviewer! I hand the cookie jar in your direction, because you get all of them!

More reviews would be very welcome ;) Love you all, see you next week!

~Keys


	11. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:**I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS, BUT YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THIS THING. DEAL WITH IT.

* * *

_"Goodnight, Kyndall. Sleep well."_

_Once the door was shut, another voice echoed. "Indeed, Kyndall. Sleep well." Sighing, she responded. "What do you want now, Loki?" "Nothing, but to wish you a good night's sleep." He looked awfully innocent (sarcasm level: ginger) but she could see through it. "I'm sure." He tucked her into bed lightly, smiling a little as he did so._

_"Honestly. I do mean it," he murmured, the image leaning forward to kiss her forehead before fading out. "Sleep well, and stay safe."_

* * *

Kyn woke from her dreamless slumber to see the same face. The one she had fallen asleep to. This copy of him was lying across from her on the huge Asgardian mattress, and she sighed. He wasn't worth the drama of making him leave. "Good morning, Lady Kyndall," the voice flowed over the room like silk. She had to admit that she liked to listen to his voice, even though she hated him. Yes, she did. She hated every part of him. "Morning," she finally mumbled, not moving anything but her mouth—and even that was limited. "Not going to demand that I leave or ask why I'm here?" he taunted.

"Too tired."

"You've been asleep for over fourteen hours."

"Still not long enough," she mumbled before rolling over. Was she being… civil with the god of mischief? "How long are Midgardians supposed to sleep? Certainly not that long, considering the length of your da—" "If you're going to insist on staying around me, could you not make me think so early in the morning?" "By Earth's time, it is nearly midday," he told her quietly. "I suppose you'd like me to get up, then?" she frowned. "Not just me. Thor is pacing in front of your door right now because he doesn't want to wake you, but thinks you shouldn't stay out of his sight for so long."

Sure enough, she could see the shadow passing by the door. "Fine," she grumbled.

That day proved to be much like the last, except this time she was taken on a tour of Asgard… including their prison. Loki had the audacity to wink down at her, an action to which she shook her head—although she found a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. Thankfully Thor and his friends hadn't noticed. It was around that time that all of them were summoned back to see Odin.

Everyone in the party bowed respectfully to the Allfather, herself included, until he gestured for them to do otherwise. Kyn felt a little more comfortable after seeing Frigga smiling down at her from Odin's side. Apparently, there was a battle rising in the east and he wanted Thor and his band to go finish it. She was to stay in her room until the prince returned. The blond god apologized profusely for this decision, but she waved it off. She didn't mind. "Just come back in one piece, got it?" she smiled, nudging him lightly. "Very well, Lady Kyndall. I will return as soon as I may."

_-X-_

Kyndall was lying in bed, the Loki clone directly beside her. She had woken up from a terrible nightmare, still breathing heavily. "Are you all right?" the paler god asked her softly, not wanting to startle her. Little did he know that it wasn't possible to scare her by being there anymore. It had been several weeks since Thor left, meaning it had been a long time since she was first brought to Asgard. They'd spent several nights together. She was used to him being there, though the evenings and most of the days were peppered with arguments and occasionally he would leave if she was angry enough with him.

Today hadn't been one of those days, fortunately enough.

"Yeah, fine."

There was a long silence before either of them spoke again. "Loki?" "Yes, Lady Kyndall," he responded after a few moments. "Why do you stay here with me? What is it that you want from me?" she huffed. "I have to want something?" "You destroyed New York because you wanted to rule. Would've destroyed the Earth," she frowned. "Yes, I did." "Would have destroyed your own brother." "Yes."

"So, given that, I don't believe that you simply want to be friends with me. Whatever it is has something to do with my sickness. You know what it is."

"Yes, I do. But I can't tell you what it is."

"You could. Not like I can leave this place. Whatever you want me to do, just tell me what happened," she pleaded. With that, the god slowly smirked. "Do you remember how to get to the prison?" "You want me to let you out?" "Obviously. I'll leave an image in my cell, so I can't go very far." Kyndall sighed and propped herself up on her elbows. "And what would you do? You can't be in anyone's sight, remember? They'll kill you on the spot, so why bother?"

"I didn't know you cared whether I die or live."

Silence.

"I…" she started. "I didn't either." Both stayed in awed peace for about ten minutes. "I'd rather be here in my own body than in an image, if you don't mind." Sighing, Kyn got to her feet and peeked outside of the door. "You'll have to show me." Loki shifted his image's form to one she didn't recognize, obviously Asgardian. "Let's go."

It was only a few moments before the redheaded woman found his prison and unlocked a part of it with her radiation powers, which—for some reason—seemed amplified now. Different surroundings, possibly? Taking a few looks around, the pair then ran back to the palace.

Forty minutes later found Loki and Kyndall back in her room, the latter of the two panting from running in avoidance of being caught. The redheaded woman flopped down onto the bed face-first, mumbling something to him once she felt the mattress dip down on his side. She considered the horror of what she just thought. _His_ side? Since when had she called it his side?!

Loki asked her to repeat what she had said after settling down, taking up considerably less room than she thought he would. Of course, the real him was much thinner than the image of him.

"Have you been eating properly?" she asked after leaning up suddenly, totally ignoring his previous question. Loki seemed amused by this, but didn't answer. She turned to look at him, waiting for his reply. "Let's just say that Asgard isn't the kindest to her prisoners. What did you expect?" Kyndall sighed as she hit the mattress again. She had no idea why she still felt such concern for him. She knew what he was, knew that he was a terrible person and a murderer… But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to totally dislike him. She didn't trust him, for sure, but there was something… Then it clicked.

"They lied to you."

Loki didn't look at her, but rather stared at the ceiling, jaw set tightly. "How long did it take for you to figure it out?" she asked quietly, peering up at him with dim eyes. "You try to hate Thor because you know that he was always the favorite. And it killed you inside to find that all this time, you were the lie. You were never anything to them…" "Stop," he mumbled, standing up to pace for a moment. "And that's why… That's why you did it. To prove to Thor—to prove to Odin that you weren't just like the rest."

"Kyndall, I will not tell you again to _hold. __**Your. TONGUE."**_ The god of mischief began to turn an unhealthy blue from the top of his head down to his feet, eyes burning red. For some reason, the look of this woman flinching back was not as satisfying as the others, but he smirked anyway. At least, until she turned her back to him. She wouldn't talk to him again for a while, until she deemed it alright. This was her, though. This was her fault, she was the nosy one. She pressed too far. His history was none of her business.

After nearly an hour, her breathing began to even out and Loki decided it was safe to slide into the bed. She'd be fine by morning. She'd realize her mistake and apologize, and all would be fine. He could continue with his plan by morning. They had places to be; Loki couldn't afford to be behind schedule.

* * *

**[A/N] **Well, well. Guess what's happening now! Are they trying to make nice?! *Le gasp* What's Loki's plan?!

I love my new followers and you shall have cookies! Or, y'know... Whatever floats your boat... There are weird cookie-haters out there, but hopefully... Nevermind. Anywho, thank you all for reading and such, reviews are much appreciated, as are follows, favorites and such!

See you next week and love you all! Goodnight- or morning, or whatever time you happen to be reading this.

~Keys


	12. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:**I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS. I WAS NEVER, AM NOT, AND WILL NEVER BE THAT AWESOME.

* * *

_"Kyndall, I will not tell you again to hold. __**Your. TONGUE."**__ The god of mischief began to turn an unhealthy blue from the top of his head down to his feet, eyes burning red. For some reason, the look of this woman flinching back was not as satisfying as the others, but he smirked anyway. At least, until she turned her back to him. She wouldn't talk to him again for a while, until she deemed it alright. This was her, though. This was her fault, she was the nosy one. She pressed too far. His history was none of her business._

_After nearly an hour, her breathing began to even out and Loki decided it was safe to slide into the bed. She'd be fine by morning. She'd realize her mistake and apologize, and all would be fine. He could continue with his plan by morning. They had places to be; Loki couldn't afford to be behind schedule._

* * *

Kyn's eyes snapped open quickly; it was totally dark—no lights at all. She sat up slowly to find the bed empty, which was strange. She was used to seeing _him_ there next to her. The redhead decided not to dwell on it, but slid out from under the massive blankets. Still no sign of the god. Not that that was a terrible thing, she missed the silence sometimes. Several minutes and a few good paces around the over-sized room found the woman tucking herself back into bed.

When she woke again, there was still no Loki. "Odd…" she mumbled to herself. Kyn poked her head outside the door for a moment, peeking around the long corridor. She shut the door and huffed, sitting back against the bed again. Kyn felt awful—she needed a shower and some new clothes… She'd been in the same outfit for the entire time she'd been in Asgard. She may as well have been a prisoner. As if on cue, her door was opened gently, quietly.

"Kyndall?"

The woman looked up from the floor to look at her visitor, standing in reverence to the queen. "No, no, dear. No need for formalities, really," the Asgardian smiled brightly. "I took note of how often you poke out of that door. I thought you might join me outside for lunch, get some fresh air? I've a lovely garden on the other end of the palace." Kyndall flushed, looking herself over. She wasn't in any proper state to be having lunch with the _queen_ of Asgard. "You'll be properly seen to, Lady Kyndall. Given fresh clothes and things. I've convinced my husband to let you around the palace, I know you've been lonely."

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Grace," Kyn bowed respectfully. "You've been treated as a prisoner for many weeks, much too long. Someone will come to care for you soon and bring you for lunch," that was the last Queen Frigga said before leaving, her gown flowing elegantly behind her. The woman looked around momentarily, sighing to herself.

Soon enough, a woman came to her room and asked Kyndall to follow her. The Midgardian did as she was told, head ducked down out of sight as she was taken to a private bath. Clothes were set at the edge of the stone bath as she was left alone. After peeling off her filthy clothing, Kyn toed the water before finally easing into it, muscles screaming out at the scalding heat. She found several soaps on the edge of the bath, cleaning herself before even trying her hair. After nearly half an hour, she stepped out and found a towel lying next to the gown that had been left for her. She slipped into it quickly, the hair starting to touch her shoulder blades feeling strange after so long.

Kyn poked her head out of the door to find the same woman waiting for her. By the time she was led to the gardens, she didn't really recognize herself. She looked like the other Asgardian women, albeit a shade paler than most. And red hair. She hadn't seen many red-haired women in this place.

Eventually, she saw the queen and bowed again, taking a seat where she was told to. "I wanted to talk to you about your staying here. I know it's been harsh, and for that I apologize. You'll be treated decently now, thankfully. I hope the gown is to your liking?" "Y-Yes, of course!" the woman stammered, admiring it before sending a sheepish smile back to the queen. The two ate in companionable silence before returning to conversation.

"Leave us," the queen ordered the others standing by, to which they hastily bowed and obeyed. Kyn feared for what was next to be said, but tried to keep calm. "Don't be nervous, please. You can trust me—they tend to be overbearing," Frigga explained. Kyndall returned her warm smile with another shy one, nodding in understanding. "Do you like my garden?" the elder asked. "Who wouldn't? It's breathtaking, really."

"I'm glad you like it. My son always did, as well." Kyndall was thoughtful for a moment, trying to think. "Loki, Your Grace?" she finally gathered the courage to ask. "Yes," it almost pained the queen to think of her now-crazed son. "If you don't mind my asking, where is he from?" Kyn pressed, then immediately realized her mistake. "Sorry, sorry. That was out of li—" "No. Don't—Don't apologize. Have no fear of being curious. My husband found a Frost Giant, an infant, abandoned in Jotunheim. He brought the child here, and we raised him with Thor, as brothers. My king hoped to someday form a treaty with the Jotuns by using Loki," she told all, the smile gone from her face.

"But he's still your son."

Frigga offered a grateful look, but said no more of the matter.

Another hour or so passed before Frigga was summoned, and as she stood she told Kyndall that the palace was hers to roam. "My gardens are always open to you," were some of her exact words. Halfway down the stone path, the queen paused and looked back to the human, "Oh, and keep him out of trouble, love." The look in the Asgardian woman's eyes told all—she knew that Loki wasn't in his prison. A small twitch of a smile could be seen before she was gone, and Kyn was alone.

The rest of her day proved to be rather dull. She had no one to talk to; she couldn't find Loki anywhere. Kyndall wondered where in the nine realms he could be… Nine realms—she was starting to sound like them… Shaking the thought, the woman continued her shuffle around the darkening hallways. It was getting late, and she was definitely tired. Time to head back to her room… if only she could remember how to get there.

After a while, she gave up on finding the room and just started looking for people she knew. Anyone she knew, anyone at _all_ would've been nice. Kyndall Banner trudged down the halls until well after midnight, when that servant girl managed to find her. After much relief on both's parts, the redhead was taken the opposite way of which she was going and straight to her door. The room on the other side was the only familiar thing about this palace. She was surprised to find that the linens had all been changed and that there was now a wardrobe on the wall across from the large bed, doors open to show the many outfits stuffed inside to make them all fit. Upon taking a closer look, she found a note. 'Hope these are to your liking, as well. Much love, Frigga'

Kyn even found a couple of nightgowns in one of the drawers, one of which she hastily changed into before going for the bed. She was exhausted, totally drained, and wanted nothing more than just to go to sleep. Upon moving closer, she found the face she'd been looking for all day. He was curled up in the middle of the mattress, clutching a pillow against him. This wouldn't have been a problem, but he was being a bed hog, even as skinny as he was. She didn't want to wake him, she'd never had to before. She'd never seen him sleep before. He was always just sort of… there.

"Loki," she mumbled, shaking him gently. She didn't want to wake him up completely, only enough so he could scoot over. Kyndall bit back a laugh at his severe bed-head, remembering that this was a god she was dealing with. A powerful, supposed-to-be-in-prison god. Sitting at the edge of the mattress, she shook him a little more forcefully. "Wake up!" she tried. Nothing was working. He was freezing, absolutely freezing. Frigga had said that he was a Frost Giant… maybe that was normal?

Just as she stood up, about to give up and go sleep in the floor or something, she heard a smooth voice. "No need for that, Lady Kyndall," he said, and she looked back in time to see him making room for her. She slid under the covers with her back to the god, thinking of what she wanted to ask first. "Loki?" He hummed in response, still half-asleep. "Where were you today?" That was her first question. "I was elsewhere, thinking," he mumbled. "Oh," was all she could think to say. "Are you always so… cold?" she blurted out. There was a light chuckle, but he stifled it quickly. "I could shift over more, if it would make you more comfortable."

"No!" she replied quickly, so quickly that it made her realize her actions and blush darkly. Thankfully, though, it was night. Nobody would see. "No, you don't have to do that. I just… I wondered. It's actually kind of nice, considering how hot it always is," she rambled on, finally managing to shut herself up. If this was what happened when he was gone, she didn't want it to happen again. This was just embarrassing. There was a rustling behind her and she found that he had moved closer. "Better, pet?" "Y-Yeah…"

"Goodnight, Lady Kyndall."

"Goodnight, Loki."

The god shut his eyes, trying not to think about what he had just done. This was not part of his plan; he wasn't supposed to care. He never cared anymore, this wasn't right. What annoyed him most was that he couldn't tell her anything yet. Couldn't tell her what had happened to her back on Earth. Couldn't tell her why she wasn't on Earth anymore. Couldn't tell her that he had been right next to her for the majority of the entire day, but she never noticed him because he didn't look like himself. Couldn't tell her that he was right there in the garden the entire time she and his mother were talking and that he almost started to cry because this one wasn't horrified. Because this one understood. But why? Why did this human have to be any different than the others? _What made this one so special?_

He woke up before her, as usual, but with a slight difference this time. Kyndall was snuggled against him, face and arms pressed to his chest, and his arms had—sometime in the night—snaked around her middle. The girl was so cold that she was shivering, and he tried to push away, but she wouldn't budge. She wanted the cold. He gave up after a couple tries, knowing that she would wake soon and he would never hear the end of it. He thought for a moment and smirked lightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead before going back to sleep. Maybe, somewhere deep down, he didn't want to hear the end of it.

* * *

**[A/N] **Hello, my lovelies. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this little bit here. I love all of you very much. Really, I do. So I'm gonna be awesome and post early. Really early, don't you love me? You should.

I would love some reviews, obviously (cos who doesn't love reviews) about what you're thinking so far. I have one faithful reviewer, who gets a new and shiny pet unicorn. And cookies, don't forget the cookies. But I'm daring someone _besides_ **CrazyPandaHobbit** to review for me. If someone will do that, I will post a very, very long chapter on that day. That very day.

Also, speaking of reviews, I know there wasn't an awful lot of Cap/Kyn anything going on, so I wanna know if you want some of that. Leave me a review, PM me, do whatever you have to to let me know what you want. (Also, I wanna know who you think Kyndall should end up with. Cap? Or Loki? I'll leave it up to you.)

Either way, love all you guys, enjoy the story.

~Keys


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